Eduard Narcisse

Eduard Narcisse (1534-1559) was a French nobleman during the mid-16th century. In 1559, he poisoned the family of his rival, Pierre Voland, after Mary, Queen of Scots twice refused to help him settle his feud, and Mary responded by having him thrown in a dungeon with plague victims to ensure that he died a cruel death.

Biography
Eduard Narcisse was born in 1534, the son of Lord Stephane Narcisse and the brother of Luc Narcisse. He came from a powerful noble family, and he came to control the grain which entered the French royal court at Fontainebleau. In 1559, during a plague, he came to the court and asked for Mary, Queen of Scots to have his rival Pierre Voland thrown into a pit with the plague victims so that he could die, explaining that Voland had bedded his wife on several occasions. After the Queen twice refused to oblige him, he took matters into his own hands and poisoned the entire Voland family, inadvertently killing Yvette Castleroy in the process. Mary then had Eduard arrested as he brought wheat to the castle and had him thrown in the dungeon with plague victims, leaving him to die a cruel death.